Espaillat For Senate?



As Adriano Espaillat heads toward his June 24th primary in the 13th Congressional District Democratic primary he faces a decision of whether to also prepare to run for reelection to the state senate.  Should he lose in the congressional primary he can still run for state senate, as the primary for state senate and other state offices remains in September.  To do so, however, he’ll need to submit petitions signed by registered voters for his state senate candidacy to the Board of Elections by July 10th.

In 2012 Espaillat lost to Charles Rangel in the congressional primary and then successfully ran for reelection to the state senate.  Whether he is considering the same scenario for 2014 is a topic he would rather not focus on, with it’s clear implication that he’s planning for the possibility of losing again to Rangel.  On Wednesday I asked Senator Espaillat whether he would pledge to not run for state senate.  He did not directly answer, only stating that “I am not circulating petitions for the state senate right now.”  Whether others are doing so on his behalf, or whether he will do so between now and July 10th was unsaid.